Casting machine with metal feeder



June 2l,` l932 L. G. OLANDER 1,863,993

CASTING MACHINE WITH METAL FEEDER Filed May 2s, 1929' 2 sheetsheet 1 June 21, 193,2. L'. Q OLANDER 1,863,993

CASTING MACHINE WIT-H METAL FEEDER Patented June 21, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LEONARD G. OLANDER, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR TO THE MONOMELT COMPANY, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, A CORPORATION OF MINNESOTA CASTING MACHINE WITH METAL FEEDER Application filed May 23, 1929. Serial No. 365,345.

This invention relates to a metal casting machine and while the invention is capable of many applications, it particularly is designed for a machine for casting bushings in certain members, such as connecting rods, now commonly used in automobile engines. It has been a practice to cast the babbitt in the hubs of the connecting rods by having the connecting rod held in a machine and rotated at high speed about the axis of the hub thereof. The molten metal is poured into the hub and thrown out around the edge of the opening therein by centrifugal force thus forming a bushing in the connecting rod which is securely connected thereto. With such machines it has been the common practice to supply the molten metalused for the bushings from ladles carried by workmen. This is a slow and awkward operation and it is difficult to have the desired amount of metal poured and to maintain the metal at the right temperature.

It is an object of this invention to provide a machine which holds and rotates the connecting rod, said machine being provided with a pot in which the metal is melted and in which a supply of molten metal is maintained together with means for feeding metal in the desired quantities from said pot to said connecting rod or other member.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a casting machine for casting bushings in members comprising a potin which the metal .is placed and melted, an auxiliary pot into which molten metal is fed, said auxiliary pot having means for feeding a definite amount of molten metal to said member in which the bushing is cast.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a machine for casting bushings in members having in combination, means for holding and rotating said member, a pot in which the metal is melted and in which a supply of molten metal is maintained, means for maintaining said metal at a certain teIn` perature, and means for feeding measured quantities of said metal to said member in which the bushing is cast.

It is more specifically an object of the invention to provide a machine for casting bushings in certain members, having in combination, means for holding and rotating said member, a pot in which molten metal is maintained at a certain temperature, a pair of compartments, means for feeding metal from said pot to said compartments, means for feeding metal from said compartments to said member, and means for alternately operating said last mentioned means whereby one compartment will be supplied with metal while a definite amount of metal is fed from the other compartment to said member.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be fully set forth in the following description made in connection with the accomp-anying drawings, in which like reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views, and in which Fig. l is a view in side elevation of a portion of a casting machine, certain parts being broken away and other parts shown 'in vertical section;

Fig. 2 is a view in vertical section taken on line 2 2 of Fig. l as indicated by the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on line 3-53 of Fig. as indicated by the arrows, an

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 2 as indicated by the arrows.

Referring tothe drawings, a portion of' a casting machine is shown comprising a frame 10 having a cylindrical bearing 1l secured thereto in which is rotatable a head 12 comprising at its outer end a disk 12a. Said disk 12ahas a rearwardly projecting cylindrical portion 12b embraced by a brakeband 13' adapted to be operated by a lrod 14 by mechanism not shown. A bracket ,'15Y extends laterally from frame having a bearing at its CTI outer end in which is journaled 'a pivot 16 of an arm 17 formed as a fork at its upper end which embraces member 12 and the hub of a disk member 18 slidable on member 12, said hub being clamped by a member 19 having oppositely directed pins 19a engaged by the arm 17. Arm 17 has a laterally extending arm 17a a portion of which is shown, which will be connected to suitable operating mechanism and may have a common o perating mechanism with the rod 14. Member 18 has a plurality of circumferentially spaced rods or bolt members 20 secured therein which are preferably three in number, the same being surrounded by springs 2'1 which engage the front of disk 18 at one end and at their other ends the flanges of bushings 22 carried in disk 12a through which rods 20 slide. The bolts 20 at their outer ends are secured in a plate or disk member 23 which normally is pushed toward the disk 12a by the spring 21. Disk 23 has an inwardly extending tapered hub engaged by a ring 24 secured to disk 23 by circumferentially spaced screws 25, said ring 24 carrying a guard or splash plate 26, having its inner side slightly `concave'. The hub of member 23 is shaped to engage the member in which the molten metal is cast, suchas a connectingrod 27, the other end of rod 27 being secured to member 12a in some suitable manner, as by a pin 28. The inner side of the hub of member 23 is recessed to act as a die or mold to give the proper shape tothe bushing to be cast and has an opening 23a therethrough which flares toward its outer side. Disk 12a has a central member 29 held thereagainst by the ring 30 secured by the screws 31 which central member 29 also is formed to engage the connecting rod 27. A plate 32 is secured to disk 12a over-lying ring 30 and extending some distance therefrom.

In accordance with the present invention, a standard 35 is provided which will be supported from some suitable part of the machine frame 10 so as to form part of the machine and be held in fixed-relation thereto. The standard 35 has a head at its upper end with a flange 36 thereon having a vertically extending edge portion which receives a casing 37, an lnsulating cover 38 extending along the outer side of the casing and a metal shell 39 preferably of aluminum over-lying covering 38, said covering and shell extending at four sides of the casing 37. -Covering 38 and and shell 39 are received inside of the vertical edge of flange 36 and are also received inside `of a depending iange 40aof a member 40 which embraces and is supported thereon.

Casing 37 has mounted in the upper portion thereof a met-a1 pot 41 forming an auxiliary metal pot on the machine. y A pair of burners 42 extend lengthwise of casing 37 beneath pot 41, the same, being supplied with suitable fuel, Such as gas by the conduit 4e. conduit i tion, it being sufficient to state that the same,

by the action of thermostatic member 46 controls to an exceedingly fine degree the passage of gas through conduit 43 to the burners 42 so that a very line regulation of temperature is secured for pot 41 and the metal therein'. Pot 41 has formed therein a pair of compartments 41a which communicate with the main body of said pot through openings 41?) in the bottom of said compartments. Said compartments also each have leading therefrom a passage 410 which, in the embodiment of the invention illustrated, has its bottom portion extending in line with the bottom of a spout 41d which extends at one side of pot 41 through an opening 37a in the casing 37 and members 38 and 39. The spout 41d tapers outwardly and has a delivery end extending into the opening 23a of member 23 and terminating at the inner side of said opening in position to direct the molten Inet-al into the member 27 to forni the bushing to be cast. Pot 41 has a thickened portionat the front of the compartments 41al whichis provided with vertical cylindrical bores aligned with the openings 416 respectively, in which are fitted vertically slidable valves 48. Members 48 have diagonal passages or bores 48a extending therethrough respectively having the same angle as and adapted to align with passages 41o. Said members are also substantially of the same diameter as openings 416 or slightly larger than said openings. Valves 48 are bifurcated at their upper ends and receive in said bifurcations the laterally extending lugs of a lever 49 having an upstanding central handle portion 49a and having a laterally extending pin 50 projecting therefrom disposed centrally of said handle portion 41a and some distance above the pivot pin 51 on which the lever is oscillatably mounted, pin 51 being secured in a lug 41e upstanding at the top of pot 41.' A tensile coiled spring 52 is connected at one end to pin 50 and at its other end to a small lug 41d on the top of pot41. Casing 37 and flange 46 are provided with openings 36a at their bottom portions through which 'air may be supplied to the burners 42. A casing 54 is disposed` within member 40 aninsulating plate 55 and a surrounding shell 56 being provided about said casing and also fitted in member 40. A pot 57 forming the main melting pot is mounted in casing 54, thesame having a downwardl extending delivery spout 57 a extending t rough an opening in member 54 and disposed to deliver to auxiliary pot 41. Pot 57 has a small opening 575 at the top of spout 57a controlled by a valve formed by the pointed end of a rod 58 having a head 59 at its upper end pivoted in one end of a lever 60 mounted in a lug 570 on pot 57, the outer end of the lever carrying a pivot pin 61 adapted to be inserted in any one of a plurality of holes 62a formed in the upper end of a vertically extending rod 62 which extends down into the top of not 41 and has secured to its lower end a float 63 which is disposed in the metal in pot 41. It will be seen that by the described construction valves rod 58 is governed by float 63. Members 55 and 56 are surrounded at the top by the depending iange of a cover 64 having an upwardly extending hopper portion 64a equipped with a hinged lid 65. Casing 54 and member 40 have openings 54a in their bottoms and burners 66 are disposed in casing 54 beneath the pot 57 supplying the fuel, such as gas by a conduit 67 which is controlled by a gas governor including among other parts a lever 68 engaged by a coiled spring 69, said governor having as an actuating element a thermostatic device 70 disposed in a casing 71 located in pot 57 and in the *metal therein. The governor is controlled by member 70 to regulate the gas supplied to burners 66 to a very line degree so that a very fine temperature regulation is secu-red for the molten metal. vided in pot 57 supported on rod 73 which is connected at its upper end to an alarm device, not shown, to indicate when the metal in pot 57 drops below a certain level.

In operation when the bushing is to be cast in member 27 the operator will operate arm 16a moving member 18 and also through bolts 20, the member 23 outwardly against the tension of springs 21. The member 27 can now be inserted between member 29 and member 23 and secured at its other end by member 28. The operator now releases arm 17 allowing springs 21 to move disk 23 to clamp member 27 against plate 29. The machine is now operated to turn member 12 with the disk 12a and member 27 is 4rapidly rotated about the axis of its hub in which the bushing is to be cast. Metal will have been placed in pot 57 and melted by the heat of burners 66 and this metal is fed through spout 57a into pot 41 until the proper level is secured, upon which float 63, which may be made of aluminuin, will rise and operate lever 60 to move the valve 58 downwardly and close opening 575. Float 63 will therefore maintain a constant level of metal in pot 41. The lever 49 will be thrown to one side or the other and will be held in the position t0 which it is moved by the spring 52, which will be at one side of t-he center of pivot 51. When in this position one of the valves 48 is moved downwardly 65 and closes one of the openings 415, at the A submerged ioat 72 is pro- 41. Then the lever 49 is thrown to its other position the metal which has passed into the compartment 41a will thus run out through passages 48a and 41e, opening 415 being closed. The metal will run outv until the level falls below passage 41e. As both levels are determined, a definite amount of` metal will thus be dispensed and of course this will be the amount determined to be the desired amount of metal for the bushing. While the metal is running out of one compartment 41a it is running into the other compartment through the opening 415. When the lever 44 is again thrown the opening 415 willV be again closed and the metal will run out of the compartment which has just been filled.

The compartments 41a are therefore alternately lled and emptied. The metal in pot 41 feeds from the bottom of the metal in pot 57 and is thus very clean and free from any dirt and dross which collects in the top of metal in pot 57. The metal is maintained at a very even and uniform temperature which is very accurately regulated by the gas governor. The desired amount of metal of the desired temperature can therefore be easily and quickly delivered from pot 41 to spout 415 and to the member in which the bushing is to be cast. It will be understood that when the metal in pot 57 falls below a certain point the float 72 will not be buoyed up and will give an indication that this pot should be replenished.

From the above description it is seen that applicant has provided a machine for casting bushings or similar members with a very accurate and easily operated means for feeding a definite amount of metal at the proper temperature. The slow operation of pouring by hand with its attendant waste of metal and great variation in temperature is thus eliminated. The operation is greatly speeded up by the present apparatus and not only is' a very superior and'improved piece of work done, but it is done more quickly. The device has been demonstrated in actual practice and found to be very successfuland efficient. v

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, proportions and arrangement of the parts, without departing from the scope of applicants invention, which generally stated, consists yin a device capable of carrying out the objects above set forth, in the novel parts and combinations of parts diclosed and defined in the appended claims. v v

What is claimed is 1. lA machine for casting bushings in certain articles having in combination means for holding an article in which the bushing is cast, said means having an opening through which metal-is received to -form said bushing, a metal pot, means for heating said pot and maintaining a supply of molten metal therein, means for feeding molten metal from saidI form said bushing, a metal pot, means for heating said pot to maintain a supply of 'molten metal therein, a pair of compartments in said pot, means for ,supplying metal from said pot to said compartments, means for respectively supplying metal from said compartments to said opening, and 'means alternately operating said last two means whereby metal can be fed to said opening from one compartment while the other compartment is being filled.

3. A machine for casting bushings or other members in certain articles having in combination, means for holding an article in which the bushing is cast, said means having an opening through which metal is received to form said bushing, a metal pot, means for maintaining a certain level of metal in said pot, a pair of compartments in said pot, openings leading from said pot to said compartments, a delivery means on said pot, passages leading from said compartments respectively to said delivery means, and members control! ling said openings and passages whereby the opening into one compartment is closed while the passage leading therefrom to the delivery means is open.

sage leading therefrom to the delivery means is open. 'a

`6. A casting machine having in combination,a casting location, a pot formolten metal, a plurality of compartments in said pot, a delivery means' on said pot, means for 4. A casting machine having in combination, a casting location, a pot for molten metal, a plurality of compartments in said pot, means for supplying metal from said pot to said compartments, means for supplying metal from each of said compartments to said casting location, and means whereby metal can be fed to said casting location from a compartment while another compartment is being iilled.

5. A casting vmachine having in combination, a casting location, a pot for molten metal, a plurality of compartments in said pot, openings leading from said pot to said compartments, a delivery means on said pot, a passage leading from each compartment to said delivery means, and means controlling said openings and passages whereby the opening of a compartment is closed-whilelthepas- 

